My Mother, the Boa Charmer

[ZARADOZIA]

Snakes-
When mechanical vibrations are applied to the body, they result activation of the inner ear just as do airborne vibrations detected by the tympanic membrane and extrastapes do in eared reptiles. Responses to groundborne vibrations are low in sensitivity and frequency, in the 50-1,000Hz range; their peak sensitivity is at 200-300 Hz range, superior to cats. Like the crocodilians, and other reptiles with linkages of their inner ear structures to their jaw and other structures in the head and throat, snakes have another way to conduct sound to their ear.

Vibrations picked up by mechanoreceptors in the skin of their bellies (and bodies?), and possibly their venter, are transmitted to the quadrate via the spinal nerves and from there into their inner ear structures. In other words, most snakes can hear a person speaking in a normal tone of voice in a quiet room at a distance of about 10 feet (3 m). So, if you think your snakes recognize their names, you are probably right. Researchers debate whether the snake's receptors cannot tell the difference between airborne or groundborne (somatic) stimuli, but that higher level processing could enable the snake to tell if the stimulus was airborne or groundborne.



Sources

Audioholics: Watts and dBs

Carson, John. 1998. Shhh! The Snake May Hear You. Originally published online at the Torrey Pines State Park (CA) website.

TIGR Reptile Database

Physics of Sound Lecture

Kaplan, Melissa. 1994. Did you hear the one about...?
Lizards of Mexico
Chameleon Communication
Murray, Michael J. 1997. Aural Abscesses. In, In, Reptile Medicine & Surgery, pp. 349-352. Douglas Mader DVM, editor. WB Saunders, NY.

Young, Bruce A. 1997. Hearing, taste, tactile reception, and olfaction. In, The Biology, Husbandry and Health Care of Reptiles, Vol I, pp 185-213. Lowell Ackerman DVM, editor. T.F.H. Publishing, Neptune City NJ.

Wright, Kevin M. 1997. Amphibian husbandry and medicine. In, Reptile Medicine & Surgery, pg. 440. Douglas Mader DVM, editor. WB Saunders, NY.

For those desirous of further research, Young cites, amongst the 214 or so references he at the end of his chapter, three in particular in regards to the structure and function of the reptilian ear:

Baird, I. The anatomy of the Reptilian ear. In, Biology of the Reptilia, Gans, C.; Parsons, T (Eds.) Academic Press, New York, NY. 1970, pp. 193-275

Bellairs, A. The life of reptiles. 2 vol. Universe Books, New York. 1970.

Wever, E. The reptile ear: Its structure and function. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 1978.


Reptile Hearing